any comments looking at MCI 9

[NJT 5573]

My 89 eagle has the 6V92. It had 405,000 miles on it and the engine was replaced at 388,000 by NJT. I don't think this series goes much over 400,000.

[Hartley]

If it's already in Canada and You are also. There's half the battle already done.

Remember if you buy one that has to be retitled or imported into Canada, You will be spending a lot of time and money on the "technicalities".

There are lots of messages in the archives about the pains that you have to go through converting a bus in Canada and getting inspections and modifications approved to make it a motorhome.

Dave....

[scottie]

yes thats true.being allready here in canada,ontario for that matter and 1/2 a hour drive from my place  does make it tempting.
im trying to weigh the good points and bad points.
if i were to make a serious offer i would have to get a dd guy to check it out for me first and take (or go for) a drive...dam ive never driven anything that big before, 5 ton truck is about the closest thing .
time to do some heavy thinking 
thanks everyone for your input.......
scottie

[TomC]

HIghly recommend the 102" wide buses- that extra 6" makes a big difference inside-I know, I have a 40 x 102 transit bus with large windows, and we never feel the need for a slide out.  Personally, I would look for a 102C3.  Good Luck, TomC

[PP]

I'd consider it long and hard, and then I'd hold out for the wide body. And if you're hesitant about driving a non-synchro stick, stay with a 102" and auto. Some people will tell you otherwise, but most that do are retired or not-retired road jockeys that think the harder it is to drive the more macho, tsk tsk. (LOL)

[NJT5047]

HIghly recommend the 102" wide buses- that extra 6" makes a big difference inside-I know, I have a 40 x 102 transit bus with large windows, and we never feel the need for a slide out.  Personally, I would look for a 102C3.  Good Luck, TomC

UMMM HMMMM.  And start saving another $20K for a 'nice' Canadian 102C3.   
A nice auto, 4 stroke, C3 could be closer to $40K, and up, than you might guess.  Every charter operator is looking for nice used C3s, and H3s.  And any other restroom equipped, auto, 102" wide bus.
You'll never know the difference as long as you stay out of 102" coaches.  That's easy enough. 
May I posit that your clean, manual shift, non-restroom gov MC9 may be a much better bus than most affordable C3s that are on the market.   
Driving a 102" isn't really any different than driving a 96".  Watch the toll booths~
The manual shift, 96" width, non-restroom is the reason the MC9 has not been sold.   
If the unit is relatively rust free, it's worth what they are asking.  And it'll sell in the spring to some converter that's reading these posts and now busily looking for the bus' location. 
However, I would agree with Buswarrior, during the snow season you may be able to negogiate a better price.   Even though the bus is "worth" $15K...in reality it's only worth what it'll bring.
The bus is not in demand for fare service.  So only converters and churches would be interested...and now more than a few are aware of the existance of the coach.... .   
For my money, I'd rather have a nice, relatively low mileage manual MC9 that has not been converted, than an unknown converted bus.   Converted buses are sold cheap for a reason.  You'll have to redo an unknown amount of the conversion.  And you'll have to figure out how in the hell the rest of it works. Be very careful with home-grown conversions. 
Follow Christy and Larry Hicks tales of "tempbus."  They bought a really nice factory converted GM..."tempbus" to fill in until "bigbus" (MCI MC9) was completed.  How bad can it be?     Even factory conversions can be a nightmare.  When traveling in "tempbus," shall we say that they live in interesting times. 
Still, "tempbus" is a nice piece of equipment. 
Owner converted coaches have the extreme benefit of, even though it may not be perfect, the converter knows how it works.  You can easily diagnose and repair most issues that arise.  Huge benefit. 
Now, if money ain't an issue.....
Another thing...as long as the engine's running well when you buy the bus (no water in the oil, running on all 6 cylinders), if you keep oil and water in a 6V92, and don't operate it above 2100 RPM, it'll run for a long time.  Even in an essentially 'worn out' condition. What typically kills these engines is oil, wrong oil or lack thereof.  Eventually, they'll use so much that it'll literally leak or burn gallons on a 500 mile trip.  That's a sign.  Keep the coolant up (don't overheat) and the correct oil in the correct quantity and treat the engine with some respect,  used like an RV, it'll likely last for as long as you keep the bus.  I do not garuntee that last statement. 

BTW, OTR AC won't work for long in any event.   It's nice as long as it works.  Cost more to repair than the bus is worth.  Unless you're an HVAC guy, plan around the OTR AC.   

My dos centavos, JR



   

[buswarrior]

ok, scottie, when am I giving you driving lessons?

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[tekebird]

don;t be scared off the Coach A/C

we have four buses with it two GM's and two MCI's

they are not that difficult or expensive to maintain and you will never cool your bus faster.

JMHO

[scottie]

good morning
the guy just emailed me back who owns the bus and told me to make a offer ..maybe ill low ball him and see what he says....
gee buswarrior i might take you up on your offer for driveing lessons lol ...when i went to look at the bus,and they ran it for about 20 minutes the guy was leaveing and ask if i knew how to shut it off...i figured if hes asking me how to shut it off ,there must be more to it that turning a key lol so i sayed no ...i think he push on the e brake ,pushed on the brake pedal and hit somw button ??
ill keep you informed
scottie 

[buswarrior]

I'm a fairly critical test pilot, too.

For a Tim Horton's lunch, count me in!

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[scottie]

WOW
thats a deal!!!
okay one tim hortons lunch comeing up!! (maybe some cold beers after that )
i email the guy back and low ball him,im sure they will not accept my offer,but if they do its a good deal and ill put up with the 5 speed
thanks buswarrior
scottie

[lyndon]

Hey scottie, your initial description could have been our bus. Subsequent posts explained why. We own a Canadian Forces bus, a veteran of CFB Gagetown.

Purchased in August '07, we had found pretty much exactly the shell we were looking for:

• well maintained
• relatively low mileage for its age
• already in Canada
• rebuilt 6V92
• 5 speed standard (a feature to me, but not for all)
• no lav to tear out!
• new or nearly new Michelins all around, including spare, with snow treads on the drives
• complete CFB service records

Downside:

• neglected for a year by interim owner, one battery left dried up and lube overdue
• NB safety inspection promised, not delivered -- extra cost $2300 for mandatory AB safety and related repairs (rusted/leaking exhaust pipe, tie rod end and a bunch of minor stuff)
• relative location (but what a ride back!)

So far, we've found no major problems beyond the initial safety issues already addressed and the usual rust, not unexpected coming from the NB climate. It runs great and used around 5 liters of oil (~1.5 US gal.) in the 2900 mile return trip. Pretty much everything works but the cruise, and I just found a broken switch while doing a lube on the clutch linkage.

A lowball offer is probably a good move, though. We payed under $14,000 FWIW. Of course, you have to consider the
current condition, but it sounds like a decent bus.

Happy hunting!

Don

[scottie]

hi don
gee thats the bus im looking at to a tee!!!
i did get a e mail back with his counter offer,he even offered me a tax receipt for most of the purchase price (its a church that own it now)..
so you like the 5 speed mmmm maybe i should just try it and see for my self,just about all the cars/trucks/motorcycles/toys i own are standard...
good luck with your work
scottie

[Busted Knuckle]

hi don
gee thats the bus im looking at to a tee!!!
i did get a e mail back with his counter offer,he even offered me a tax receipt for most of the purchase price (its a church that own it now)..
so you like the 5 speed mmmm maybe i should just try it and see for my self,just about all the cars/trucks/motorcycles/toys i own are standard...
good luck with your work
scottie

Scottie just becareful of the maintance of it since it's been owned by the church. Not all but a lot of churchs maintance program is praying that GOD will take care of it and get them home! LOL! Sorry to say, but sadly true! On the other hand some churches (few and far between) go that step when maintaining them and are fanatics about it! The church that used to own Frank's AKA Slowrider's bus was that way! When they'd bring it to our shop and drop it off they'd tell me "do this, this, and check it completely over and let us know what else needs done!" Everytime I ever called them and told them of anything I found needing repaired or replaced they said "well do it, it has to be done!" But they were a definetely a rare case as many say "well what can we do to it to get by for a while", or "oh gosh we don't have the $ for that! It'll have to wait!"  So please do be sure and take an experienced nut or bus mechanic with you for the inspection before any $ changes hands! I'd say buswarrior would be as qualified as any nut, as any to ask for assistance in your neck of the woods! FWIW happy hunting!
  BK 

[lyndon]

Scottie, BK makes a good point about the maintenance program of the current owners; we did not give much consideration to what happened after the excellent military program, and definitely had a few issues. A second set of eyes, especially objective and experienced eyes might save you some grief.

Nevertheless, I can think of some commonsense ways to gain insight into their maintenance policies, without even getting under the bus! (You've probably heard the safety warnings about under).

• Do they have good records and receipts?
• Are all the fluid levels where the should be? (Engine/transmission oil, coolant, batteries, even WW fluid).
• Is there fresh grease on the belt tensioner shafts?
• Are the fluids reasonably clean?
• Are all the tires inflated to the same pressure (within a few psi at most)?
• Do all of the lights work?
• Are wiper blades worn?

If more than a few of these items are deficient, their program is lax, but if everything checks out, they probably have been diligent in the routine maintenance. None of these are expensive to fix, so there only excuse for deficiencies would be the prayer program, as BK eloquently pointed out.

I'll bet there's a hundred other ways to tell, too.

Don